Shalini, New Delhi: Stress is a six-letter word which almost all of us are familiar with. It is a constant companion in our hectic lifestyles and everybody raves about it.

Stress is also like pushing the accelerator of your car to speed up. It can definitely help you reach the destination faster. But if you overdo it, chances are that you burnout the engine and wear out the brakes.

"Stress is a phenomenon where the demands on an individual are more than what they can cope with," says psychologist, Arpita Anand.

However, is stress at all bad for you?

"An optimum amount of stress is considered effective because it pushes people to meet deadlines and meet their expectations. But when the stress becomes too much, the performance actually goes down," Anand says.

And what can overstress do to you? You can end up with anything from ulcers to heart disease, diabetes, obesity and even cancer with too much stress.

"The studies that have been done on humans do not show a definitive correlation but yes maybe, because it effects the immune system. There may be a relationship which shows that stress and cancer are related through the immune mechanism," says surgical oncologist, Dr Loraine Kalra.

So if you feel overstressed, here is what could do:

• At work, tell yourself that it is alright to make mistakes and move on.
• If you feel that its not practical to take up the deadline, say so.
• Clear off the air with the people around and you may find that even deadlines might look a little less threatening.
• Take a break. Pick up a sport or any other activity that relaxes you.

And most of all make sure that you get some ‘me time’. After all, there is more to life than increasing its speed.